The Bruleyin Job
by hathor-2141
Summary: Mal and his Gorram Unification Day Tradition of bar fights just might spell the end to one member of his crew. Occurs before "Serenity" the movie. Cast: Mal, Inarra, Zoe, Wash, Book, River, Simon, and Jayne
1. Chapter 1

Hello, I am new to fanfic and this is my first published story. Shout outs to the best beta reader ever, homeric, who not only gave me wonderful advice, but also walked me through the fanfic process. Enjoy and review please :)**  
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**Prologue**: Mal sat on the bridge hoping that Zoe would be all right. He just couldn't think about life without her. He punched the intercom button a little harder than usual and said,

"Hey Doc, status please."

Behind the intercom status came the surly voice of Simon. "Zoe is critical. I would use the autodoc, but the intensive care cavity of the 'doc' doesn't have any organic matter which is essential to rebuilding the mass that she lost."

_Gorramit_! Mal thought, then why the _Niao Se Duh Du Gwai _did he buy it then? He knew he was being unreasonable, Simon had just purchased it, but he wasn't thinking straight.

"OK Doc, we are 4 hours out from Volgarin Moon, they have the best medical facilities in this quadrant. Hopefully they have what you need there. But, if they don't what is Plan B?"

A few moments passed and Mal had started thinking the worst when Simon said,

"One of three things, they have an autodoc with enough mass to aid her, we find a compatible donor, or she dies."

Mal's guts twisted inside when Simon said 'dies'." No, please God, No! he thought. I can't lose a crew member, and especially not Zoe. Simon had already tested everyone in the crew so Mal knew that no one aboard was a genetic match to his second in command. Wash was trying kill himself by giving his wife as much blood as he could, and once again, Mal damned himself for the brawl that led to this. It was a well known fact amongst the crew that Mal always managed to find himself in a bar on Unification Day, with at least a few Alliance leanin' people in it. The 'Alliance leanin' element was critical because Mal was usually looking for a fight on this day, and, he usually got it. Only this time things went south and someone carved a big hole outta Zoe's side with a Pulse Rifle that was not only rare, but highly illegal.

_W__ong Ba Duhn! __ How could I have been so stupid_? Mal thought. _Oh Zoe, Zoe, I'm so sorry_...


	2. Chapter 2

24 hours ago...

It had been one year since the demise of Jubal Early, and Simon felt he was finally making progress with River. His sister had changed in that year from a frightened, uncommunicative 17 year old into a more communicative, stronger, and beautiful 18 year old. It seemed that the 'Early' incident had bought out a mechanical bend to River's mind, which led her to spending lots of time with Kaylee in the engine room.

"Zoom, zoom, zoom, flying newt...stability going, gravitation boot," River sang to herself.

Whereas a year ago, this nonsense banter would have mystified Kaylee, her time alone with River had taught her how to look beyond the nonsense to the sensible. Her mechanical mind instantly picked out the words "grav boot," and she asked River, "How soon we gonna need it?"

River turned to Kaylee with a huge grin on her face and said "Last week, yesterday, today...Hooray!"

_Oh dear_, Kaylee thought. She walked over to the ship's intercom.

"Mal, Mal... I don't wanna be tetchy, but we'll be needin' to make landfall today. River says we need a grav boot."

For a few minutes there was complete silence, then Mal responded

"OK Kaylee, Wash says that we be near Trilgo, a fairly nice Rim planet with a few extra perks. He says too that a grav boot is a common part, so they should have it." We'll be in her space in 7 hours.

"Shiny!" Kaylee responded, "I'll keep her together 'til then, I promise."

As Mal shut off the intercom, in his mind's eye, he could see the bright upturned smile on Kaylee's face. Then his thoughts went to the more pragmatic - the cost of a grav boot, and if he could possibly get a job from Trilgo. They still had a little cred from the last job, but they needed other things. Also, in the back of his mind, he knew that it was Unification Day, which was why if he was sensible they 'should' bypass any planets today. It would be difficult, he knew, if he were to land not to get into a fight, and create even more enemies that they did not need.

_Ai yah Tien ah,_ he thought. Well, he had no choice, they _needed_ that grav boot. Then Mal began to smile, well, one little drink couldn't hurt hmmmm?


	3. Chapter 3

Trilgo...

Terra-forming had been a moderate success on Trilgo, creating both land and water forms. The weather was equator normal, similar to that of the Earth-that-was. Highs during the day tended to reach about mid to high 80s, and the nights tended to cool down to about mid to low 50 degrees. Most people that landed on or stayed on Trilgo did so because of the nice weather, and because of moderate to low level legal intervention. If you could find or create a job on Trilgo, you could do fairly well there. Residents had built clay and brick homesteads away from the docks close to the water areas. Along with the homesteads Trilgo was home to three bodies of water with four varieties of fish. The staple fish that most Trilgoians preferred was a thick skinned whitefish called ptarga that ranged from one to five feet long. There were many locals that led any off world visitor desiring it on daily fishing trips to catch not only the ptarga, but the larger monlyn, a whitefish about 8-10 feet long, the nylox, a pinkfish with teeth about that was a little smaller, and the stumyx, a very big thick skinned black fish . Whereas the stumyx had the best flavor of all four fish varieties, it was not only harder to catch, but it was also a predator fish that could and often did kill those hunting it. Although Trilgo did boast of her flora and fauna products, they were mostly known for being breeders of the pet called Bruleyin, a small chimera creature that had a feline face and a dog body. Many a lady in the rim planets sought after these pets, and on some central planets, a lady would not be seen without one.


	4. Chapter 4

"OK people, we land in 20 minutes, does everyone know their job?"

As usual Mal was being redundant. His crew had been flying with him for so long that little verbal instruction was needed. Earlier, after he told them that they would be staying for three days, Inara had informed him that she had a client. That really bothered Mal, but he was unable to articulate why. He didn't want to think about Inara laying down with anyone, and he didn't know why it bothered him. As the companion came into the cargo bay, Mal felt a moment of unreasonable anger -

_Ta Ma De Hun Dan_! He snarled, "Zoe, Jayne, you are with me. Simon, Book, you two take the ladies into town to find what they need. Wash, you stay with the ship." Everyone glanced at Mal trying to figure out his deal, but decided it was not worth asking about, and, as usual, everyone grumbled about their jobs, but they knew better than to contradict the captain's orders. As they landed, everyone made their way to the cargo bay.

"OK everyone, be safe, and make sure you bring me back some of whatever you're havin," Wash said jokingly, trying to lighten the mood .

He laughed as he said this knowing no one was listening, they were all excited about landfall and what they could get into. He knew that Jayne was thinking about sex; Simon was probably preoccupied with some new medical procedure, medicine, or device; Book was probably thinkin' about finding someplace to meditate and worship proper, or finding some new herbs and seasonings to supplement his supply; Mal and Zoe were probably thinking about their Unification Day Tradition; Kaylee would be preoccupied with trying to find as many parts as she thought they would need, and how to convince Mal to purchase all of it; and River... he wasn't sure what River would be thinking about, and he didn't think anyone else did, not even Simon. He got back to completing his docking procedure before opening the cargo doors and wishing his shipmates good luck.


	5. Chapter 5

Kalee was having a difficult time finding a reasonably priced grav boot. As with most of the rim worlds when a outside ship landed looking for parts, ultimately, those parts became rare and therefore pricey.

_Qing Wa Cao De Liu Mang_! _Why must this always happen? _thought Kaylee. _Every time. Can't we just land one time and not have the natives try and clean us out? No wonder the Captain took those illegal jobs_, she thought, _if he didn't, we would be unable to live as we do_.

"obfuscate, confiscate, recreate, re-purpose," River gaily sang out.

Of course, thought Kaylee. What was the major component of a grav boot? The Honnecourt Capacitor by golly! And, where could she find some cheap or free Honeys? Why in a junk/second hand shop, or under the flight deck being as the Honeys under the flight deck and in the grav boot were practically identical. She could rearrange a few things in the honey and wallah, a grav boot!

"Thanks River," said Kaylee. "I'm so glad you are who you are, and you got the knowin' of what you know. Now let's go get those Honeys so's I can fix up my beautiful girl."

As Kaylee, River, Simon, and Book prepared to leave the parts shop, the proprietor sensing a pending lost sale leaped up. "Now, now, you're not gonna find any better parts in the 'Verse than I have here. Are you sure that I don't have something you need?"

"Nah," Kaylee answered mischievously, "I think I'll do better at one of your dump sites."

As they left, Book anxious to go his own way told the ladies, "Well, since you have a plan to find what you need, there are a few things I need myself. Simon, Ladies." At which point he left.

Simon not believing Book had beat him to the punch looked helplessly at Kaylee. The petite mechanic rolled her eyes at Simon before taking pity upon him.

"Go ahead Simon, River and me will be just fine. Remember, she can kill with her mind."

At this point all four of the shipmates broke out in boisterous laughter, and the men departed from the women. Book and Simon looking to supply their interests and Kaylee and River to find critical ship parts.


	6. Chapter 6

"105 Cred? That's preposterous! Simon exclaimed. I can get these same Rexes (Rx) on any planet for one fifth that price."

"Maybe, the shopkeeper replied, But you aint on any planet, you're on Trilgo. And on Trilgo, those 6 crates of plasma, Zylocyclin and Hydroxma anesthesia cost 105 cred."

Simon grudgingly paid the shopkeeper, for one, because 105 cred _was_ reasonable (gorram it, he had been with Mal too long), and secondly, because Serenity needed them. The shopkeeper sensing that that he had the buyer tried to take advantage and sell him something else. He started baiting him with salves, bandages, gauze, and other things medical, but Simon just wasn't biting. Simon turned to leave but his eye caught an item half hidden in the corner and his whole day became brighter. Very nonchalantly he asked,

"Hey, how much for the X100LM Autodoc?"

"Well sir, that be an older version, we have the Z200LR Autodoc in the back," said the hopeful shopkeeper, hoping to make a sale he could brag about for the next 6 months.

"How much for this one?" Simon asked.

Even though the shopkeeper knew that any sale was better than no sale, he tried one more time, "That 'en don't have no supplies in it, not even in the critical care unit. The Z200 be fully stocked. You sure you still want that'en?"

"How much?" Simon repeated.

The shopkeeper made a decision, "For you sir, that'll be 250 cred?"

Simon did a mental calculation on how much cred he had left over. The jobs they had found this last year had been good, but he and River had living expenses. All he had left was 255 cred and he knew that he had to use some of that to buy something for River.

"I have 200 cred left, will that do sir?"

In all actuality, the shopkeeper had been storing the X100 for over a year for some fella that never claimed it, and it was taking up precious room in his shop.

"It's a deal sir, the shopkeeper exclaimed, But you have to move it yourself."

Simon was so happy about his new toy that he forgot what the shopkeeper said about supplying it. He just wanted to get it out of the shop before the owner raised the price. He put a quick call in to Wash, told him where to pick up the Autodoc, then went to look for Kaylee and his sister.


	7. Chapter 7

After walking among the many stalls that ringed the outer homesteads Book finally found what he wanted. He approached the elderly proprietor and greeted her with a smile,

"Happy Mid-day madame, I am looking for a variety of seasonings and herbs, and maybe some soil, pots and seeds if you have them."

The woman looked Book over, assessing his look and manner and decided that she liked what she saw. On Trilgo, Inel was known as having some of the best herbal products available.

"Yes, gentle sir, I have many varieties of herbs as well as salt and peppercorns. I do not supply soil, but I do have pots and seeds if you want them. Soil you can pick up anywhere on Trilgo." She said this with a smile which reached her eyes.

Book and Inel looked through her entire stock and he settled on some oregano, thyme, rosemary, cumin, basil, dill, mint, marjoram, sage, and of course salt and pepper. Inel also supplied him with seeds for most of the herbs he purchased. Book knew that with Kaylee's expertise, they would be able to rig up some type of light that would enable his plants to grow. On his way back to town, he stopped by one of the waterfronts to make sure to pick up enough soil to plant his seeds. All in all, Book felt that his day was productive but wouldn't be complete without visiting the local monastery...


	8. Chapter 8

It didn't take long for Jayne to find the local bar. He did have to walk across town to find it, being as some of the good folks of Trilgo did not want to be near such a place of debauchery. Jayne walked through the door, took a deep breath and said,

"Honey, I'm home!"

What followed was typical Jayne – he introduced himself to the bartender and told him, "Keep em coming until I say stop." The next couple of hours found Jayne and his new friends engaging in pool... drink...drink...pool...pool...drink...

"So, you have a friend that has cargo they want moved off world?" Mal spoke to the small man with the darting eyes, wondering what was making him so jumpy. They had been sitting near the Eavesdown dock entrance every since they had left the ship waiting for this man, Yoki, and were wondering what they had gotten themselves into. Yoki finally stopped looking all about and told Mal,

"Meet me down by the third waterfront near back homesteads in an hour. I'll introduce you to your'n client and cargo then." At which point Yoki got up to leave.

"Wait just a gosh darn minute now. You wouldn't be tryna hornswoggle us would ya?" Said Mal as he grabbed for Yoki. The diminutive man gave Mal a glittering look and said,

"Just meet me at the spot, we'll suss it out then." At which point he left.

"Seems suspect Mal," said Zoe, "we should come up with a plan which includes Jayne. And by the way, where is Jayne?"

Mal looked at Zoe..._you know he is at the closest bar_...Zoe lifted her right eyebrow..._well, let's go get him then_. Years together taught them how to find Jayne. Just look for a building with a lot of loud noise spilling out of it. After walking for about ten minutes, they found "The Rutting Stag," and based on the singer and the song emanating from within, they knew Jayne was inside.

"He robbed from the rich and he gave to the poor

Stood up to the Man and he gave him what for Our love for him now ain't hard to explain The Hero of Canton, the man they call Jaaaaaaayne!" Mal and Zoe entered the bar and found their mercenary laying across a chair, head thrown back singing at the top of his lungs. They had to admit, Jayne was a lot friendlier when he was a little sauced. As Mal and Zoe got closer to Jayne, Mal also noticed that although he seemed to be drunk, he still held his drink with a steady hand. "Jayne," Mal said, "we have a job and we'll be needin' your expertise." Jayne peeked out of his left eye, and grinned widely. "Mal, Zoe!" Howdy! Why don't y'all pull up a chair and sit a spell. Hey barkeep, pour a few for my buds here." Jayne seemed right proud of how well he was behaving, nodding and smiling all the while. "Uh, Jayne, no drinks right now, real simple, we got a job to do," said Mal. A few of Jayne's "friends" stopped what they were doing and moved closer to Mal and Zoe to find out who was threatening their drinking supply. As they moved closer, Mal noticed that some of them looked downright hostile. Zoe moved to a strategic spot on the left of Mal and he turned to address the small crowd. "Howdy gents, this here is one of my crew, and we have to leave now. But, I'd like to buy the next round of drinks, how's that?" Mal thought that his offer was shiny until he noticed that a few more men had joined the hostile crowd.

Zoe sent Mal one of her looks "_Looks like we got us some imminent violence comin' our way_," and his in turn replied, "_Get ready to act...just in case_."

Zoe took another few steps away from Mal so that Jayne would not be caught in a crossfire, and Mal tried again. "OK folks, how's about I buy two rounds?"

A few of those less hostile smiled and relaxed and said, "Thank ye, thank ye, that will do." A few of the men seemed angry that their drinking supply seemed to be ending, but assured of at least two more drinks, they also began to relax. Mal paid the barkeep for two more rounds, and he, Jayne, and Zoe left the bar so they could meet up with their client.


	9. Chapter 9

"So, I have a friend that lives on Vax's Keep that says they are in the market for our Bruleyin. I am Sir Vladin Worp, the chief breeder, and I happen to have about 200 of the pups needin a good home. I don't have a ship, and don't know nobody with a ship, so I'd like to hire you to deliver my pups for me."

"Mr. Worp sir, I'm not sure what to feed these Brule – Brulyn-"said Mal before being interrupted by Zoe -

"Bruleyin Mal," Zoe said tersely.

"Bruleyin, or how to take care of them. So I'm not sure I'm your guy," said Mal.

"It's easy Captain Reynolds, I will supply the pens and their food. All you have to do is feed and water them, and keep their pens clean. They like playing together so you and your crew won't have no worries."

"How much is the job?" Mal asked.

"I am selling them to the buyer for 45 cred each. You send me 30 cred for each of them and you keep the other 15. Also, I will fuel up your ship, stock it with necessities, and give you an additional 500 cred up front."

It didn't take rocket science for Mal to know this was a plumb job!

"Done," said Mal "when and where do we make the pickup?"

"My man will bring you the cargo round bout an hour. Please see him on the way out for your incidentals. Nice doing business with you sir."

Mal and Vladin shook hands, then Mal left his office to complete the paperwork of his new contract. As he signed the papers he did the math real quick and saw that he was gonna make 3500 cred for this one job, plus free food and gas. He and Zoe looked at one another and joy shone from their eyes. This type of job seldom came around, and they took a few minutes to just enjoy the feeling. Jayne was standing with his head tilted to one side trying to count up his cut and finding himself running out of fingers, he began to scratch his head. Mal tapped him on his shoulder and said,

"I'll explain it to you later Jayne."

They left Vladin's office, secured their contract and upfront monies from his man, and left to take care of getting the ship ready for the cargo. Mal was in an excellent mood, and couldn't wait to share the good news with the rest of the crew.

"Well Mal, I done my job, now can I get back to drinking and sexing?" asked Jayne petulantly.

"Sure Jayne, enjoy yourself, after we get everything proper on the ship, hell, we'll even come join ya."

It took a little over two hours to get everything situated on the ship and then Mal told the crew they cold join Jayne at the bar if they wanted. Due to Mal's track record with Unification Day celebrations Book decided to stay on the ship with Wash.


	10. Chapter 10

"Well, well, well Cap'n, looks like you can't play Wei Chi for shit, where the hell is your mind tonight?" slurred Jayne.

"Ricket, rocket, socket, bear...captain's mind is everywhere," sang River as she watched the game between Mal and Zoe. She knew that Mal's mind was not on the game at all, he was counting his cred and day dreaming about things he was gonna do with his share. Zoe finally got tired of beating Mal and she let Simon take over.

River decided there was nothing to see in their corner, so she wandered over to the televid near the bar and started watching the cortex waves. There seemed to be a funny reel on that many patrons in the bar enjoyed, and she was able to just sit and laugh with the rest of them, not a care in the world.

Jayne had fallen asleep and between every other snore he would sing the chorus to "The Hero of Canton." Since he'd been singing the song most of the day, every now and then, a random patron would join in with him. Each time this happened, the Serenity crew would crack up with laughter, not believing that people were actually joining along.

Just before midnight, after Jayne had managed to sober up a bit, Mal gathered his people and told them it was time to head back to Serenity. As the rose to leave, they noticed that a new group had come into the bar while they had sat in the back, and some of these had on the purple coats of the Alliance.

River looked away from the vid she was watching and sang, "One, two, they twist and they wind...then they sneak up and someone is left behind."

A burly man in a purple coat stood up and said, "I want to toast to Unification Day. Because of the Alliance, we all now live free."

"Here, here," said a few voices around the bar.

It was noticed by most patrons that not only did Mal and crew not raise their glass and toast, but they continued towards the front door as if they smelled something rotten in the bar.

"U_h Oh_," said River.

The Serenity crew was not surprised about the toast, Unification Day was a very big celebration on many planets, why not Trilgo. Suddenly, a big burly man with lots of scars on his face said, "You varmints too good to drink to Unification Day, or too good to drink with us decent honest folks?"

Zoe and Jayne moved on opposite sides of Mal, then Mal said, "Nah, me and my crew just don't toast to Unification Day bein as we was on the other side; but you fellas can toast to whatever backbirth purple-belly cause you wants to."

The bar became totally silent, then men began to yell all over the bar,

"What do you mean backbirth; Who you callin purple-belly;

who do you think you are; hey you take that back!"

When Mal held up his hand for silence everyone became silent thinking he was about to apologize.

"I fought many a battle against the alliance and lost many good men. I will not toast to the _Ai Chr Jze Se Duh__ Fohn Diang Gho_ alliance, but I don't begrudge none of yous from doing it, if that's what you want."

At this point Mal turned around to continue out the door when suddenly Zoe bowled into him from behind yelling, "Captain-"


	11. Chapter 11

Mal heard a crackling sound, Zoe screamed, and then chaos took over the bar. It seemed everyone was running for the one exit, never minding if they ran over floor or person. Since the bottleneck kept Mal from making it safely to the door, he tucked himself against the bar for protection. After everyone had left the establishment, Mal got up looking for his crew. He saw Zoe laying under a table to his left, and walked over to her to ask her why she jumped on his back like that. As he got closer, he noticed a thick red stain around her and knew right away it wasn't wine. He ran to her and turned her over and what he saw almost made his heart stop. A chunk of Zoe's right side was gone, in it's place was a gaping opening and he could see some of her internals. He screamed,

"Doc! Doc! Get over here right now!"

Simon crawled from under an adjacent table and when he saw Zoe, he became serious and professional. "I need a clean table cloth now Mal." After Simon had patched Zoe up as best he could, he looked up at the captain.

"She's dying Mal, we need to get her to the infirmary immediately."

Jayne came over to help Simon pick Zoe up, Mal pulled out his pistol and turned towards the door. Patrons still in the bar took one look at Mal and cleared a path for him as if he were a _Ching Soh _. The Serenity crew moved quickly down the streets and finally onto the ship. Book met them at the cargo bay door and right away knew something was wrong. He hit the intercom and yelled, "Wash, infirmary, NOW!"

Simon and Jayne took Zoe into the infirmary and Simon immediately started hooking her up to machines and bags of medicines that could save her life. Mal said,

"Use the autodoc, I'm gonna head for a planet that has a medical facility that can help her."

Mal left to go to the bridge and Wash came waltzing into the infirmary saying,

"What has the captain done now?"

That's when Wash saw Zoe and he screamed from the bottom of his soul, "Zoe!" "NO!"

He then turned to Simon in sheer panic.

"If she dies, I swear, I will kill you! _Lao Tien Fu (Oh God)_ What Happened?" By the time he got to "What happened?" He was screaming.

Book grabbed Wash and slapped him. He took him aside and told him,

"Right now we don't have time for this Wash, we have to help Zoe."

Wash turned to Simon and sobbed,

"I'm sorry...it's just...she's all I have"

Simon nodded.

"I understand Wash, and I will do everything in the 'verse to save her. I promise" Looking around he realized that his sister was missing. "Has anyone seen River?" Simon asked.

"She's with me, Simon", Kaylee said, "but Inara isn't back yet."

Simon hit the 'com and said, "Mal, we need to leave now, I'm losing her, I don't have the right equipment on Serenity to keep her alive."

Mal's voice came over the ship intercom, "Inara is 5 minutes away, we'll lift off when she lands. Everyone get ready for lift off." As Mal logged off, the crew heard,

_Tai Kong Suo You Di Xing Qui Dou Sai Jin Wo De Pi Gu_ and knew that Mal was going to be unreasonable to talk to. They all looked at Book, who in return said,

"I'll talk to him...after he has a chance to cool down."

"Well, while we are waiting, Zoe is gonna need blood," said Simon.


	12. Chapter 12

There was no need to ask if Wash was giving blood. There were two people on board with O neg blood and Wash was one of them. The other was River, but Simon would not even consider River; he thought she was too young, and he felt the experience would scare her.

"When liberty comes with hands dabbled in blood it is hard to shake hands with her," said River from the corner of the infirmary. Simon believing that Kaylee had taken River to the engine room was surprised that she was still in the infirmary.

"River, go to the engine room with Kaylee," said Simon.

River looked Simon right in the eye and said, "Love is much like a wild rose, beautiful and calm, but willing to draw blood in its defense."

"No, River," Simon said.

River not taking her eyes off of Simon said, "You will do it Simon." Using the first coherent sentence anyone had heard her use since meeting her.

Simon looked at the resolve in River's eyes and said, "Only if I have to River, then if you insist, you can give Zoe some blood."

River settled down on the adjacent table and carefully watched Zoe, Wash, and Simon, making sure that everything was all right, and patiently waiting for her turn. She already knew that Zoe would need her blood, what she couldn't calculate was if Zoe had the strength of will to survive her injury.

At that moment, Inara rushed into the infirmary, her eyes wide with worry.

"Can I help in any way Simon?"

Simon never taking his eyes off his patient said,

"Yes, can you please prep to help me, and also talk to the captain for me when I am unavailable?"

"Absolutely," said Inara. And true to her word, she closed the privacy screens on the infirmary and prepped herself to help the doctor.

"I have port clearance, we're moving into the black Serenity," said Mal over the intercom. And, with a lurch, the Firefly left Trilgo, heading for the Volgarin Moon which had one of the finer medical facilities in that part of the quadrant.


	13. Chapter 13

Present...

"Doc, how's Zoe," came a terse question from the bridge about an hour later.

"Mal, she is sedated with Byphodine, the medicine I used to slow River's and my vitals down on that Ariel trip, remember? I don't want to use too much because she is just this side of shock, and I'm doing my best to keep that from happening. If she goes into shock, she may die."

Mal's mind was playing all kinds of nasty games in his head. Then Book entered the bridge.

"What do you want Preacher?" asked Mal.

"Just want to know if you want to talk, or pray, or anything," answered Book.

Mal looked thunderclouds at Book and then told him,

"I told you Preacher, you can stay on this boat, but God can't. Now get off my bridge."

Instead of leaving, which is what Mal expected, because no one, ever, stood up to him, Book sat down and started leafing through his Bible. Mal was dumbfounded! Didn't Book know that he had a gun and was quite willing to shoot him? Mal just stared at Book, but Book ignored him and continued to leaf through his Bible. They sat like that for an hour when the intercom buzzed and Inara said,

"Mal, Oh no, Zoe just died!"

Mal lept up from his seat, took the stairs two at a time, and reached the infirmary in record time. He had to see for himself. Zoe...Not his Zoe... When he entered the infirmary, Inara was slouched on the floor sobbing and Simon had just finished using the defibrillators. Mal looked at the medac monitor and saw that Zoe had a heart beat, even though it seemed slow and thready. Simon's skill had brought her back from the brink, although only barely.

"Don't let that happen again Doc, said Mal, _Dohn luh mah!"_

Simon usually a cool level headed person by this time had enough.

_Zhu Ah_, _Ni Ming Ming Zhi Dao Wo Shi Bang Ni Zuo Shi_, _You He Bi Zhao Wo Ma Fan Ne?_"Get out of here Mal!"

The infirmary went absolutely quiet. Simon aghast, realized what he said, turned to apologize, but the older man had already left.

"You are definitely blessed my friend," said a calmer Inara. That has NEVER happened before.

At that point, Wash, sitting by his wife folded up and passed out. Simon knew that Wash had given too much blood, so he removed the transfusing needle from Wash's arm.

"Abracadabra, from mice to men...while one sleeps, one is working," sang River.

"OK River, your turn," said Simon.

Simon really did not want River to give blood, but Zoe needed it badly, without it she would die.

"River," said Simon, I want you to let me know if you start getting light headed or sleepy O.K."

"Okey dokey," replied River, everything will be carousels and flowers." And then she gave Simon a beautiful smile and lay down on her table.

Simon hooked River up to the comatose Zoe and hoped for the best. He didn't think Zoe would make it, and he was not willing to let his little sister die for nothing, so he was determined to unhook her at the first sign that River was losing too much blood.

River looked up at Simon and said,

"No power in the 'verse can stop me." Then she winked at him and turned back to looking at Zoe.

What the heck did that mean, Simon wondered. But he didn't have time enough to wonder long, for Zoe needed all of his attention. Luckily the Byphodine was doing a beautiful job of slowing down Zoe's vitals enough so that she didn't need so much blood at one time, but she was still losing blood through the many small capillaries that Simon couldn't cauterize because of their importance.


	14. Chapter 14

A little while later, Inara got on the com and asked,

"Mal, how close are we to Volgarin?

There was no answer from the bridge and Inara got nervous.

"Mal?"

"We will be in Volgarin space in about an hour Inara, how is our patient holding up," Book answered eventually.

"Where is the Captain, Book?" asked Inara

"He is here Inara, but I think he is so deep in his sorrows that he is no good to anyone. I think he has put himself in a meditative trance to block out any bad news. How is Wash, we're gonna need him to land this boat?"

"Someone calling for me?" a tired but awake Wash asked.

"Yes Wash, this is Book. The Captain -"

"Is here Wash. You take care of your wife, and I will take care of Serenity," said Mal.

A very pissed off Mal then looked at Book and said,

"Didn't I tell you to get off my bridge Preacher?"

"Yes Captain, I believe you did," said Book as he got up to leave. "Oh, and welcome back."

Book left before Mal could say anything, and it was just as well, because Mal cursed him fluently in Chinese and English.


	15. Chapter 15

"So, Mal, did you catch the varmit that shot me?" asked Zoe.

"Well Zoe, you have to understand, you had this huge hole in your body and all of the crew was a-running around all outta sorts, so I had to make a decision by myself, I decided to bring you here and get you looked after before'en we go back and bag that varmit." It looks like you got fixed up real good, and Simon finally got that high falutin' autodoc supplied."

Zoe knew Mal well enough to know he was leaving a lot out, so she just raised her right eyebrow at him. Deciding to let him dodge the bullet for the day, she changed the subject.

"I heard that the hero of the day is little River," said Zoe.

"Well, if I be kind of truthsome right now, I would have to agree with that. It seems like our little River transfused you for about two and a half hours. Even our top three percent doctor don't know how she did it. And, she was flittin' around here just as good as you please as soon as doc let her leave that table. Now, I do love River, but I must say she does have an oddness to her," Mal mused.

"And she saved my life," a very thoughtful Zoe added. Zoe then turned to Simon and said, "When can I leave the infirmary doc, I have a very lovin' and brave man that needs my attention."

"You can leave the infirmary tomorrow Zoe, and my orders are that you don't do anything strenuous for at least a week," Simon replied.

"A Week? Did I mention my husband needs my attention?" demanded Zoe.

"A week Zoe," said Simon, "Doctor's orders." He knew Zoe would do what she wanted, but he felt compelled to tell her what any other doctor would tell her.

Zoe chose to ignore him, as usual, and turned to Mal,

"How long until we get to Vax's Keep Mal?" she asked.

"We'll be there in about a week, the same time that you can stop pretending that you are hurt and get back to work," said a very relieved Mal.

Zoe punched Mal in the arm, Simon rolled his eyes, River flitted by and said,

"I can hurt you with one finger."

Everyone laughed, and Serenity was back to normal...

_Niao Se Duh Du Gwai _ (piss-soaked pikers )

_Wong Ba Duhn!_ (Son of a bitch)

_Ai yah Tien ah_ (Merciless Hell)

_Ta Ma De Hun Dan _(mother humping son of a bitch)

_Qing Wa Cao De Liu Mang _ (frog-humping son of a bitch)

_Ai Chr Jze Se Duh Fohn Diang Gho_ (crazy dog in love with his own feces)

_Ching Soh (_savage beast)

_Tai Kong Suo You Di Xing Qui Dou Sai Jin Wo De Pi Gu_ (Stuff all the planets in the universe into my ass)

_Dohn luh mah!" _(do you understand)

_Zhu Ah_, _Ni Ming Ming Zhi Dao Wo Shi Bang Ni Zuo Shi_, _You He Bi Zhao Wo Ma Fan Ne?_" (Oh Lord, you clearly know I'm helping do your Work, so why do you find me trouble)


End file.
